Michael Jordan Made More Money From Sneakers Than His Entire National Basketball Association Career

According to an infographic on PBS.org about Sneaker Culture, “Jordan made more money selling sneakers ($100 million) than he did during his entire 15-year career ($94 million) in 2014, making him the highest-paid retired athlete in the world last year “.

However, it is not a perfect comparison since the numbers aren’t adjusted against inflation. Also, Jordan had entered the league when the NBA was just beginning its largest profit expansion in history. Jordan might not be in the basketball court during the season, but his time playing hasn’t been forgotten. With Jordan’s name attached to the product, the popularity of the brand remained high, long after the famous athlete retired, said the site.

However, Steve Ballmer’s record $2 billion Los Angeles Clippers purchase last year, has helped to raise the NBA franchise values. Jordan, as a No. 2 pick in 1984, had a salary of less than a million, Karl Anthony-Towns will make $5.7 million this year with the Minnesota Timberwolves. That deal created two more billionaires, owners of Chicago Bulls’ Jerry Reinsdorf and Houston Rockets’ Leslie Alexander.

It’s no secret that Michael Jordan and Nike make some huge cash from Air Jordan trainers. But now, after ESPN did a bit of number crunching, there’s a new statistic for us to marvel at: Michael Jordan made more in one year than he did during his whole playing career.

But one of the most striking tidbits has to do with just how much money Jordan earned from sneaker sales in 2014 alone.